Birth:Body,
Mind, and Spirit

When most people come to this site or hear of it, their
immediate thoughts are of birth and babies and the whole traditional concept of
midwifery. That is no accident (few things are, as we know). I have
always been fascinated by the process of pregnancy and birth. The creation
of new life is an awesome endeavor. I was always proud to be a woman so
that I could personally partake in the wonderful act of childbirth. I have
been thus honored twice now. I have read hundreds of books on the subject
and pursued an educational route which included becoming a Licensed Practical
Nurse working in high risk OB and also a Certified Childbirth Educator. I
am a proponent of the Midwifery Model of Care and spread the word about the
benefits of midwifery-based care and homebirth via my websites.

In addition to my intense interest in pregnancy and childbirth, I have always
maintained a strong spiritual side. I kept myself involved in the music
ministry, prayer, and church activities as well as personal growth and
meditation. It wasn't until more recently that I put it all together and
found the link between my passionate pursuits. Instead of separating all
my interests into their own neat little packages, I have combined all of who I
am and define myself by two words: passionate and spiritual. In
discovering these truths about who I am, I also discovered the truth inherent in
the world around me, seeing all things as spiritual and purposeful. In the
acknowledgement of these truths, I was able to see how some of the most
beautiful and important aspects of our spiritual life are often disregarded by
our culture/society in lieu of the more "civilized" and
"educated" models of factual existence. Birth is no exception.

In the 1800's, most middle-class women were farm wives with large
families. The children were born at home with the assistance of a family
doctor, midwife, or friends to help out. Birth was a natural part of life
and was not kept in some closet away from the rest of the family. Everyone
was involved in the process, although during this period in history, people were
pioneering into new lands and were ignorant of the implications of hygiene and
its effect on health. With the introduction of new environmental factors
and no pharmaceutical means to battle infection, babies who entered into the new
frontier often became gravely ill and/or perished due to the inability to fight
disease. Some today still argue that homebirth is not safe because of the
history of babies dying during the early pioneer days of conditions which are
entirely treatable today. It was the introduction of handwashing and
antibiotic therapy which has allowed more babies to survive, not the movement of
birth from home to hospital.

Doctors, not
wanting to miss out on the action of birth, began creating instruments which
could make birth "better" and began constructing a regimented
structure of the medical model of birth. They were able to implement this
first to the upper class, marketing their services as superior to the
"uneducated" midwife. The other classes followed in their
utilization of the medical model, as it was seen as the most advanced and
civilized way for a woman to give birth. Gradually, the practice of birth
shifted from the home to the hospital, and in the process of becoming more
medicalized, it became less family-centered. Birth was no longer the
making of a family, but a physiologic process which required medical attention.

By the mid-1950's, hospital birth was by far the "norm."
Husbands were separated from wives, being forced to stay in the waiting room
which was often on a different floor of the hospital than the mothers and
babies. Newborns were taken from their mothers' arms immediately after
birth to keep them "sterile." Women became the passive victims
of the medical model of birth. In their desire to improve the conditions
of childbirth, they lost control of the process. Normal birth was no
longer the intimate gathering of friends in the farm home, the laboring woman
following her bodies' cues, or the event marking a transition to
parenthood. Now, birth consisted of the woman coming to the hospital,
being separated from her loved ones, placed in a hospital bed and anesthetized
while the doctor performed the surgical necessities of episiotomy and forceps
use to assist with the birth of a child. This is where childbirth became
known as "delivery", for the newborn was delivered from the
mother. Also lost were the physical and psychological effects of
breastfeeding, replaced with the use of a "superior" form of
nutrition: bottlefeeding.

The pendulum of time
began to swing back during the mid-1970's. As the younger generation
searched for a return to nature and spirituality, women searched for their
presence in the act of birth. Homebirth made a comeback and those who
participated in it were seen as "off the beaten path." Fathers
finally made their way back to the "delivery room" in the early
eighties. By the 1990's, hospitals were now recognizing that women still
wanted the reassurance of the safety of a hospital birth, but desired the
comfortable surroundings of home, along with the freedom to make choices
affecting their birth. Hospitals responded with LDRP's: one home-like room
in which women and their immediate families could labor, deliver, recover and
spend their postpartum period. Most women and their families are
relatively happy with that set-up. Those who further educate themselves as
to the necessity of hospital birth and the safety of a homebirth with a
professional midwife, find themselves demanding more. Those of us who
realize that birth is a normal physiological event and not a medical emergency,
embrace its holistic nature and attempt to enlighten others as well.

"Birth
is not an illness."

As we push onward
into the next millennium, the pendulum continues on in its path toward a
cultural standard of non-medicalized childbirth. It is important to note
that in some cases, the act of birth requires medical management, but should not
be an expectation for all births. It is time to reclaim the sacred power
of birth and give it the honor due. Any woman who has endured the
agonizing hours of labor will tell you how powerful she becomes in those
moments. She is able to endure more than she ever thought possible.
After the event, she feels empowered. It is truly a spiritual experience
which needs to be nurtured in such manner.

The birth environment is sacred space. It should be filled with a
prayerful ambiance, utilizing such items as music, candles, incense, special
pictures, people, foods, rituals, and other soothing, meditative
components. The midwife is the shaman of birth. She brings with her
the knowledge of the anatomical and physiological process of birth, the
understanding of what women feel as they undergo this process, and the ability
to nurture childbirth as a spiritual event. Truly, giving birth at home
with a midwife is the truly superior method of birthing. Once this is
given recognition and brought into the mainstream, all of life will take on a
more holistic perspective, giving the often-ignored spiritual aspect of our
beings equal footing with the physical and mental aspects. It all
begins with birth.